by VeronicaMay

About: VeronicaMay

Recent Posts by VeronicaMay

In the past 9 Years I have moved a grand total of 8 times. I also have a bit of a reputation to family and friends as a giant pack rat who keeps an absurd amount of useless things for no reason (for example one move we found the bottom half of a pair of jeans my sister cut into shorts 3 years before…)

Between the number of moves and the amount of stuff I have a plethora of lessons to share about moving, But today I’ll be sharing an “AHA!” moment from my most recent move.

As a history major and a history nerd I absolutely love museums. They are the non negotiable stops while traveling and a favorite suggestion as an addition to a girls weekend.

Mamma May is very big on etiquette and exhibiting proper behavior so it is no surprise that from a young age we knew exactly how to behave in places like museums, art galleries and nice restaurants. I took these lessons for granted and finally this year while standing in the Louvre ready to punch a fellow tourist in the back of the head I realized that maybe not everyone has had the strict training that we had growing up and have not been taught how to behave in certain situations or places.

Losing your job happens. It happens to almost everyone, I know it’s hard when you think that you are a special little snowflake. but it’s true. Industries change, the economy fluctuates, business models are updated and sometimes you are the one who as to go.

The only thing you can do is to be prepared when the day comes. As someone who was not at all prepared and as someone who needs to have a plan for everything, when my time came I was caught very off guard and felt very lost.

Through my experience and from long conversations with friends and family who have been in the same situations, I have pulled together some things that either we wish we had known or that worked well for us at the time.

In the Moment

1. Stay pleasant and professional.

It may seem like this would be obvious. However, in the heat of the moment emotions can run high and some people may say things they regret. Tears on the other hand are completely acceptable. I’m not saying start wailing away like a banshee but it can be a blow to your ego and sometimes those damn tears just escape at the worst time. The most important thing though is to remember that you still may want to use these people as references for your next job and you don’t want to burn any bridges at this point

2. Ask them to walk you through the offer letter

Unless you’re an HR or Legal expert some of the terms and phrases they will use may be confusing or difficult, and you will also be able to clarify any issues you may have right away which will come in handy during some of the next few steps

3. Request a soft copy of the offer to be sent to your personal email account

Especially if you are someone who has all your important files online or on a hard drive. Also this way if you accidentally get your snack on your official letter you have a back up.

4. Ask them to call you a cab while you pack your desk

Even if they say “just flag one and expense it” say “Please have one waiting for me”. This is not an extreme request and sometimes they let you go at 8:30 in the morning when there are no cabs and you have to walk home with your bankers box full of all the food items you stashed away in your desk over the years. In case you cant tell that’s personal experience talking. I wish I had been more firm and made them call me one while I was busy filling my box full of hand lotion and cans of tuna.

Once you get home

1. Get a second set of eyes on your offer

This is where the soft copy comes in handy. Email it to your HR or Lawyer friend or to your mummydaddy because mummydaddies know all the things. And your significant other who knows way more fancy people than you do. This will help to make sure you’re getting the right offer and if there are any other questions you didn’t think of in the moment

2. Rally your support system

Don’t be embarrassed or feel weird about telling friends and family what happened. Maybe don’t post about it on social media right away but your close friends and family will be able to support you and remind you of how awesome and fantastic you are. And if they don’t remind you just send me a message and I’ll make sure you know how super duper you are!

3. Turn off your alarms for the next morning

You get to sleep in! Leave the planning for later, just relax stay in bed and do nothing in the morning because you can do whatever you want and you had a hard day.

The next day

Today is an important day. You may be in for an emotional roller coaster or you might be just fine. Take the day to yourself and don’t try to fill up your first day with busy work.

1. Build a budget

You should already have and follow a budget but let’s face it sometimes being an adult means that you build one and forget about it because… shoes. So make a spreadsheet, download an app go old school with a notebook. However you do it just make sure you cover your basics. Figure out how much time you have before you absolutely need a new job and if you need to borrow money.

2. Look up employment laws in your province or state

Even though you may have had someone look over your offer letter it is good to be well versed in your rights and make sure you fully understand your situation and reassure yourself that you are taking all the necessary precautions and steps.

3. File for your unemployment insurance

The sooner the better. It is easier for it to be put on hold than it is to back date and stress about it.

4. Take a nap

Seriously. How often can you take a nap at 11 am on a Wednesday just because?

The next week

1. Start a routine

We let you sleep in for a week now it’s time to really start a routine. This will help in the long run, being unemployed can dampen your spirit and it can make you very very lazy but having a routine will help combat some of those issues. Set a time to wake up EVERY morning. No excuses. Do the same with bed time. Make a schedule for hobbies, job hunting and household chores and stick to it. As tempting as it may be don’t stick your butt in front of the tv all day every day.

2. Network, Network, Network

If you left on good terms reach out to your former bosses or co-workers and invite them out for coffee. Keep these relationships open you never know who they may know or what companies and organizations they may have connections to. Also reach out to former colleagues and do your research on Linkedin. It’s never too soon to start planning your next step

3. Re-discover yourself

Maybe this is a blessing in disguise, maybe you weren’t completely happy at your job before. Or maybe you have always wanted to move to a new city or take that class that scares you. Take advantage of this free time and do your research, read those books on your shelf you bought to make yourself look smarter. Visit your friend who lives far enough away that you dont see them very often. Focus on yourself. Right now it is all about you and you deserve to be happy.

The next few weeks will have it’s ups and downs but remember that you will get through it and be stronger when you make it out the other side. Which you will.

I eat a lot. And often. I also get super anxious at the thought of running out of food or having to be hungry for even the smallest amount of time. So you can imagine my thoughts on travelling unprepared in the snack department. Just the thought of being stuck on a runway with nothing but a granola bar makes me twitch uncontrollably.

I love hosting. Dinners, girls nights, tea time, you name it I love having people over and spending time together.

Every once in awhile for whatever reason you may end up running behind. You know the situation. You have company coming at 7 but you got stuck at work and didn’t get home until 6:40 and your place isn’t super clean because let’s face it you put that off since you thought you could leave work early. But then that ding-bat in Client Services broke something and you had to fix it or else (as she tells it) “the world will like literally end”

Throughout your schooling years, there is a huge focus on how your identify yourself and who you think you are. from the simplistic primary school drawings of “a brown eyed girl who likes dogs” you start to gain a perceived ‘identity’ that slowly changes as your interests change and you grow, but through the art projects and other self reflecting assignments you begin to build a bigger picture of yourself.

Then comes university, college or trade school and you get to identify with your part time job, your studies and if you play sports. I was a lifeguard who was studying International Development. I felt strongly about both, I was good at my job and I loved my studies so using both as identifiers made sense and was something I was proud of.

Reading Cup of Jo a few months ago I was scrolling through the archives and came across this recipe for Homemade Ketchup. I had never thought about making it, and even when i saw the link i did not expect it to be so easy!

I absolutely love when you show up to a nice hotel and they have those huge beautiful white fluffy towels. Then at the end of a long day of activities you get to wrap yourself up in 2 or 3 of them and drink wine out of the little water cups.

I always wanted to recreate the same experience at home but not only would it be wildly expensive it also never seemed practical. Between mascara, makeup, guests using my body towel to dry their hands (yuckkk) and my terrible leg shaving techniques expensive white towels are just not practical.

The other evening while watching a football game (ok I wasnt watching I was barely even listening) but in between chapters I overheard one of the announcers say something along the lines of “where is Estonia anyway?”.